Change-speed reduction drive for a conveyor

ABSTRACT

Mechanical change-speed reduction drive for a conveyor or elevator associated with a bowl for scooping up earth. The drive comprises a hydraulic motor, a pinion coupled thereto, a flywheel in the coupling, a crown gear meshing with the pinion, a planetary change-speed unit fixed to the crown gear, and a planetary reducer connecting the change-speed unit with driving sprockets for the conveyor.

United States Patent 1151 3,668,794 Marquardt et a1. 5] June 13, 1972 [54] CHANGE-SPEED REDUCTION DRIVE 3,122,945 3/1964 Chung ..l98/203 FOR A (:ONVEYOR 3,210,868 /1965 Liess.... ..37/8 3,331,149 7/1967 Rapp ..37/8 [72] lnmmorsi zxf 5" t i 3,360,107 12/1967 Lockwood.. ....19s/203 a 3,444,750 5/1969 Stuller ..37/8 [73] Assignee: International Harvester Company, 3,543,915 12/1970 Grossklaus..... 198/203 Chicago, 111. 3,208,165 9/1965 Johnson et al. ..37/8 I 2,737,829 3/1956 Wilson ..74/694 [22] 2,194,823 3 1940 Dooley ..74 740 [21] Appl. No.: 876,507 3,182,528 5/1965 Lamburn .....74/74O 3,510,969 5/1970 Stuller et al ..37/8 [52] US. Cl ..37/87,41;'7//88l9,13978//l2902j a y Examiner Robert E r y 51 1m. (:1. ..Bp l/36, E021" 3/16, Bg 19/00 Asmam [58] Field of Search ..37/8, 89, 90, 101, 189, 190, WW-Floyd Hanna" [57] ABSTRACT [56] References Cited Mechanical change-speed reduction drive for a conveyor or UNITED STATES PATENTS elevator associated with a bowl for scooping up earth. The drive comprises a hydraulic motor, a pinion coupled thereto, a 2,321,168 6/1943 Tognetti ..198/203 flywheel in the coupling, a crown gear meshing with the 2,446,660 8/1948 Mulkey et al. 198/203 i i a la ta change-speed unit fixed to the crown gear 3,483,639 12/1969 Eftefield 6131. ..37/8 d a la ta r ducer connecting the change-speed unit 5,23; i gay? with driving sprockets for the conveyor.

O 2,941,41 1 6/1960 Wilhelm et a1 198/203 1 Claim, 3 Drawing Figures 1 P1 43 m/ H1] 1 LLl Wavy g; 62 8/ 63 82 51 '72 5 v 1& 5.9 67 74 Q 42 83 L $4 46 a I 75 49 1 427 79 .1

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C) .32 L I) PATENTEDJUH 13 I972 SHEET 1 or 3 ua rd! lhzfnions'x Zl/ade M I Zz'zes F Mar Ronald PATENTEDJUH13 I972 668 794 Julius F Marqaardf Ronald 0%. wade CHAN GE- SPEED REDUCTION DRIVE FOR A CONVEYOR This invention relates to 'aconveyor or elevator for material-handling apparatus such as a trailed scraper. More particularly, the invention relates to a drive for the conveyor.

A known type of apparatus for scooping earth employs a bowl having bottom and sidewalls and a front cutting edge on the bottom wall and an inclined conveyor over the bowl for elevating scooped earth rearwards into the bowl away from the cutting edge.

Difficulties have been encountered in the provision of a satisfactory drive for the conveyor in the above apparatus because it is highly desirable for the conveyor to move at relatively low and high speeds depending on various factors such as pile up of earth on the bowl and the condition of the earth. It is also very desirable to employ considerable speed reduction between the driving motor and the conveyor.

' An object of the present invention is to provide an improved drive for a conveyor associated with earth-scooping bowl.

A further object is to provide a conveyor drive in which both considerable speed reduction and speed changing occur.

Another object is to provide a compact arrangement for such a drive. Other objects will appear from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the attached drawings:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a two-wheel tractor and a trailed scraper connected thereto, to which the drive of the present invention has been applied:

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary plan view showing a portion of the scraper; and I FIG. 3 is a sectional view illustrating the drive of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, a two-wheel tractor is connected to the front end of a scraper 11 having two wheels 12 at its rear end. The scraper 11 is connected to the tractor 10 by means of a gooseneck l3 and a pair of interconnected arms 14. The gooseneck 13 is connected to the rear of the tractor 10 pivoting about the generally vertical axis 15. The arms 14 are secured by means of a cross member 16 to the gooseneck 13. The ends of the arms 14 remote from the cross member 16 are connected in pivots 19 to side walls 18 of a bowl 19 of the scraper 11. g

The bowl 19 also comprises a bottom wall formed of front and rear sections 20 and 21, a plate 22 forming a leading cutting edge on the front floor'section 20, and a vertical transverse ejector plate 23 extending between the side walls 18 and normally located at the rear end of the rear floor section 21, The scraper 11 also includes a conveyor 24 extending upwardly and rearwardly into the bowl 19 from a lower end over the front plate 22. The conveyor 24 assists the movement of earth scooped up by the front plate 22 into the bowl 19 back toward the ejector plate 23. When the bowl 19 is to be dumped mechanism 25 positioned at the rear end of the loader 11 and understood to include tractor-operated means such as hydraulic cylinders operated from pressure fluid supplied by the tractor 10, is actuated so that successively the front floor section 20 of the bowl 19 is moved rearwardly under the rear floor section 21, and the ejector plate 23 is moved forwardly over the rear floor section 21. As the ejector plate 23 moves forward, it goes from the full-line position of FIG. 1 to the phantom position. With the rearward movement of the front floor section 20 below the rear floor section 21, the front plate 22 attached to the front floor section 20 moves from the full-line position of FIG. 1 to the phantom position.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the elevator 24 is adapted to move between the full-line position of FIG. 1 and the elevated phantom-line position by virtue of slide-and-pivot connections 26 between the side walls 18 of the bowl l9 and a region of an elevator frame 27 near the upper end of the elevator 24, and also by virtue of cam pieces 28 secured to the bowl side walls 18 and rollers 29 riding on the cam pieces 28 and being carried by-the frame 27 near the lower end of the elevator 24.

The scraper 11 may be raised from the operating position of FIG. 1 to a transport position by means of hydraulic units 30 attached to the bowl side walls 18 and to the cross member 16 on the gooseneck 13. Steering and turning of the tractor 10 and the scraper 11 are accomplished by angling of the tractor 10 with respect to the loader 11 about the axis 15 through adjustment of hydraulic units 31 connected to the crossmember 16 on the gooseneck l3 and to the tractor 10.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the frame 27 of the elevator 24 comprises upper and lower transverse members 32 and 33 of box section, inclined side members 34 secure to and between the members 32 and 33, and a diagonal member 35 also of box section secured to and between the members 32 and 33. The slide-and-pivot connections 26 are between the ends of the upper frame member 32 and the side walls 18 of the bowl 19. Each connection 26 comprises essentially a pin 34a attached to the adjacent end of the upper frame member 32, a block 34b having a circular opening engaging the pin 34a, and a channel 340 attached to the adjacent side wall 18 of the bowl l9 and slidably receiving the block 34b. The rollers 29 are mounted on the ends of the lower member 33 and are held against the cam pieces 28 so as to ride thereon, by arms 350 secured to the ends of the upper frame member 32 and tension springs 35d connected to the arms 35c and the bowl side walls 18.

The conveyor 24 comprises a pair of spaced parallel endless chains 36, flights 37 extending to and between the chains 36, driving sprockets 38 engaging the upper ends of the chains 36, and lower idlers 39 engaging the lower ends of the chains. The lower idlers 39 are mounted on brackets 40 secured to the lower transverse member 33 near its ends. The driving sprockets 38 are carried on mounting plates 41 and 41a in a manner that will be explained presently.

One end of the mounting plate 41 is secured as by welding to the upper transverse frame member 32 and to one longitudinal frame member 34, as shown in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 3, the other end of the mounting plate 41 has an aperture 42. A spindle or housing 43 has an outwardly extending flange 44 by which it is secured to one side of plate 41 across the opening 42. At the opposite side of the plate 41 a flange 45 of housing 46 is secured across opening 42. A housing 47 is bolted to the housing 46. The flange 44 of the spindle 43 and the flange 45 of housing 46 are secured to one another and to the mounting plate 41 by means of screws 48 and one end of the spindle 43 passes through the opening 42 in the mounting plate 41 and engages an opening in the flange 45, a seal 92 positioned in a ring on the spindle 43 sealing the opening in the flange 45.

'AT the end of the spindle 43 remote from the mounting plate 41 is positioned a planetary speed reducer 49, which comprisesa fixed ring gear 50,-a sun gear 51, a plurality of planet gears 52 distributed about the sun gear 51 and lying within the ring gear 50 and meshing with both gears. The speed reducer 49 also comprises a carrier 55 for the planet gears 52. The sun gear 51, which forms the input of the speed reducer 49, is formed integral with one end of a shaft 54. The planet carrier 55, which forms the output of the speed reducer 49, has an extension which is attached to an annular mounting member 56 which is supported by bearings 57 on the exterior of the spindle 43. One driving sprocket 38 is secured to the mounting member 56. The other driving sprocket 38 is carried by the mounting plate 41a and is drivingly connected to the carrier 55 of the speed reducer 49 by a long tubular member 58. Further details on this will be supplied presently.

The shaft 54 projects from sun gear 51 through the spindle 43, the mounting plate 41, the flange 45, and the housing 46, to its other end lying within a speed-reducing, planetary change-speed unit 63. The latter end of the shaft 54 is splined to a hub portion 59 of a block 60, which is connected by a transverse pin 61 to a carrier 62 of the planetary change-speed unit 63. A cap 64, which is secured to the carrier 62 by screws 65 holds the pin 61 at the carrier 62. The pin 61 and cap 64 are located at one end of the carrier 62, and-the other end of the carrier mounts a plurality of planet gears 66, which may be four in number.

At the very end of the carrier 62 an internally toothed ring 67 is positioned, which is connected to the carrier 62 for rotation therewith by pins 67a and shafts 68 which rotatably mount the planet gears 66 in the carrier 62. The change-speed unit 63 also includes a long sun gear and quill 69 which has a set of teeth 70 of relatively great axial length, and a set of teeth 71 of relatively short axial length, axially spaced from the teeth 70. The teeth 70 of the sun gear and quill 69 are constantly in mesh with the planet gears 66 and are free of the teeth of the ring 67 in the position shown in FIG. 3 while being capable of meshing with the teeth of the ring 67 when the sun gear and quill 69 is axially displaced to the right of the position shown in FIG. 3.

When the quill and sun gear 69 is in the position shown in FIG. 3, the teeth 71 of quill and sun gear 69 mesh with internal teeth formed on a fixed, jaw brake ring 72 attached in a connection to the end of the housing 47. When the quill and sun gear 69 is displaced axially to the right of the position shown in FIG. 3, the teeth 71 are disengaged from the ring 72. Axial displacement of the sun gear and quill 69 is controlled by a fork 73 having rolls (not shown) on the inner sides of its legs engaging an annular groove 74 formed on the exterior of the sun gear and quill 69. The fork 73 pivots about an axis 75 from the full-line position of FIG. 3 to the dotted line position shown therein by the action of an air cylinder 76. A spring (not shown) operating when the air in the cylinder 76 is released, returns the fork 73 to the full-line position of F IG. 3.

The change-speed unit 63 also includes a rotatable ring gear 77 which encloses the planet gears 66 and meshes with them. A short casing member 78 and a long casing member 79 are secured by bolts 80 to opposite sides of the ring gear 77. The casing members 78 and 79 in cooperation with the ring gear 77 form a rotating casing for the change-speed unit 63. The ring gear 77 is interior to the aforementioned casing, and a crown gear 81 which is formed integrally with the ring gear 77 is exterior to the casing. The casing members 78 and 79 are journalled in the housing 47 by means of bearings 82 and 83, respectively. For the carrier 62, a friction-type bearing is provided at one end by rotative engagement of the hub 59 of the block 60 with the casing member 79. A friction type bearing surface is provided on the outer edge of ring 67 and contacts a mating bearing surface inside of short casing member 78 for support. At the ends of the carrier 62, thrust washers 84 and 84a prevent axial movement of carrier 62 with respect to rotating casing.

A driving pinion 85 meshes with the crown gear 81 and has an integrally formed shaft 86 which is journaled in the housing 47 by means of two tapered roller bearings 87. The pinion shaft 86 protrudes from the housing 47, and at the outside of the housing a flywheel 88 is secured to the pinion shaft. The pinion shaft 86 is coupled to a hydraulic motor 89 through the flywheel 88 and a universal coupling 90, one side of which is connected to the flywheel 88 and the other side of which has a sleeve 91 (FIG. 2) having a splined engagement with an output shaft (not shown) of the hydraulic motor 89. The motor 89 is carried on a transverse piece 92 (FIG. 2) one end of which is joined to the adjacent longitudinal frame member 34, and the other end to the adjacent spring arm 35c.

The end of the spindle 43 remote from the mounting plate 41 is secured to the fixed ring gear 50 of the speed reducer 49 by means of a ring gear carrier 94 which extends from the end of the spindle 43 as a radially outwardly projecting flange. The end of the tubular member 58 remote from that connected to the planet carrier 55 of the speed reducer 49 is connected to the adjacent driving sprocket 38 to a pillow block bearing 95. Pillow block bearing 95 is mounted on floats axially in plate 41a.

The hydraulic motor 89 is operated by fluid pressure that may be supplied from a source on the tractor 10. Rotation of the output shaft of the motor 89 is transmitted through the universal coupling 90, the flywheel 88, driving pinion 85, crown gear 81, change-speed unit 63, shaft 54, and speed reducer 49 to the driving sprockets 38 of the conveyor 24.

unv-

When the sun gear and quill 69 is positioned as shown in FIG. 3 so that its teeth 70 are free of the internally toothed ring 67 connected to the planet carrier 62 and its teeth 71 engage the internally toothed ring 72 connected to the housing 47, the change-speed unit 63 operates as a speed reducer. Thiy is due to the fact that the sun gear and quill 69 is held stationary and the planet carrier 62 rotates more slowly than the ring gear 77. In this situation, there are three speed reducers between the hydraulic motor 89 and the driving sprockets 38 of the conveyor 24, namely, the speed reducer 49, the changespeed unit 63, and a third reducer composed of the crown gear 71 and the driving pinion 85.

When the air cylinder 76 is employed to cause the fork 73 to move the sun gear and quill 69 to the right of the position of FIG. 3 so that the teeth 71' of the sun and quill 69 are disengaged from the ring 72 connected to the housing 47 and the teeth 70 of sun and quill 69 are engaged with the internally toothed ring 67 connected to the planet carrier 62, the sun gear and quill 69 is locked both to the planet gears 66 and to the ring 67 connected to the planet carrier 62. The result is that the planet carrier 62 and the ring gear 77 of the changespeed unit 63 rotate at the same speed, and there is no speed reduction in the unit 63. At this time there is a higher speed of the driving sprockets 38 of the conveyor 24 for a given speed of the hydraulic motor 89 than was the case when the sun gear and quill 69 is positioned as shown in FIG. 3, since there are only two speed reducers at work, namely, speed reducer 49 and also that unit formed by the crown gear 81 and the pinion 85.

OPERATION AND STRUCTURE It will not be apparent, in the present chain and paddle elevator, that we provide improvements in operation and in structure, namely, an arrangement with: upper chain flight and lower chain flights generally parallel to one another; chain sprockets the axis of which is generally transverse to the chain flights and over which the chains are trained to be driven thereby; an hydraulic motor and a coupling therefor with respective interconnected aligned shafts which are adjacent the chain sprockets and with respect to which the sprocket axis is generally transverse; and a mechanical underdrive interconnecting the coupling shaft and sprockets generally at right angles to one another, said underdrive effective to vary the elevator speeds whilst the motor hydraulically runs at a desired optimum speed, and comprising a sprocket-connected planet carrier member, a coupling-connected ring gear input member, a sun reaction element lockable for conjoint rotation with the planet carrier member, carrier planets meshing with the ring and sun reaction element, the sun selectively restrainable against rotation in the underdrive to underdrive the elevator at right angles, and a flywheel providing inertia between the coupling and input member to reduce speed fluctuations of the motor at the desired speed.

To sum up, there are two conditions of operation, one involving two speed reducers, and the other, three speed reducers. Thus, one obtains with the novel drive of the present application a speed change as well as considerable speed reduction at both speeds. Thus, the hydraulic motor 89 can be operated at a relatively high speed with a consequent satisfactory power output, and the driving sprockets 38 of the conveyor 24 operate at a satisfactory slow speed. The speed of the conveyor sprockets 38 can be changed as may be required by the condition or type and amount of earth loaded up into the bowl 19, without a change in speed for the hydraulic motor 89, which might interfere with its power output.

What is claimed is:

1. Material-handling apparatus comprising:

a. a wheeled bowl having a bottom wall provided with a leading cutting edge and side walls defining a material receiving space having a front opening;

b. means for conveying material scraped by said leading edge rearwardly into said space, said means including a pair of parallel spaced endless chains extending upwardly and rearwardly from front ends thereof adjacent the leading cutting edge to rear ends, flights interconnecting the endless chains, and a pair of driving sprockets engaging the rear ends of the endless chains;

. a planetary speed reducer located between and in axial means extending in the opposite direction from the carrier to the other sprocket to form a driving connection therebetween;

. a frame for the conveying means including an apertured plate;

first and second housing fixed to opposite sides of the plate at the aperture therein, an outer end of the first housing remote from the plate being connected with the ring gear, the first housing being internal to the extension of the carrier and providing a mounting for said extenslon;

. a shaft connected at one end with the sun gear, extending through the first housing and the plate, and having its other end in the second housing; a

a planetary change-speed unit located in the second housing and comprising an axially shiftable sun gear located beyond the said other end of the shaft in axial alignment therewith, a set of planet gears distributed about and meshing with said sun gear, a carrier rotatably mounting said set of planet gears adjacent one end and having at said one end a set of internal teeth capable of meshing with said sun gear, and a rotatable ring gear surrounding and meshing with said planet gears;

said sun gear in one axial position meshing with said planet 7,

gears and the second housing and being free of mesh with the internal teeth of said carrier, said sun gear in another axial position meshing with said planet gears and the internal teeth of said carrier and being free of mesh with the second housing;

i. a block contained in the end of the carrier remote from said planet gears, the block having a hub projecting from the former end of said carrier and being splined to the end of the shaft remote from the sun gear of the speed reducer;

j. a pin extending transversely of the shaft and connecting said carrier and block;

k. a pair of rotatable casing members secured to opposite ends of said rotatable ring gear;

I. a crown gear formed integral with said rotatable ring gear and being external to the casing members and internal to the second housing;

m. a driving pinion meshing with the crown gear, rotating on an axis transverse to that of the shaft, and journalled in the second housing;

11. a hydraulic motor coupled to the driving pinion and located adjacent and outside the second housing at the same plate side; and

o. a flywheel directly associated with the coupling between the hydraulic motor and the driving pinion and located directly outside the second housing. 

1. Material-handling apparatus comprising: a. a wheeled bowl having a bottom wall provided with a leading cutting edge and side walls defining a material receiving space having a front opening; b. means for conveying material scraped by said leading edge rearwardly into said space, said means including a pair of parallel spaced endless chains extending upwardly and rearwardly from front ends thereof adjacent the leading cutting edge to rear ends, flights interconnecting the endless chains, and a pair of driving sprockets engaging the rear ends of the endless chains; c. a planetary speed reducer located between and in axial alignment with the driving sprockets and comprising a sun gear, a set of planet gears meshing with and distributed about the sun gear, a fixed ring gear surrounding and meshing with the planet gears, and a carrier for the planet gears having an extension projecting outwardly of and around the ring gear and in one direction axial of the sprockets to a driving connection with one of the sprockets; d. means extending in the opposite direction from the carrier to the other sprocket to form a driving connection therebetween; e. a frame for the conveying means including an apertured plate; f. first and second housing fixed to opposite sides of the plate at the aperture therein, an outer end of the first housing remote from the plate being connected with the ring gear, the first housing being internal to the extension of the carrier and providing a mounting for said extension; g. a shaft connected at one end with the sun gear, extending through the first housing and the plate, and having its other end in the second housing; h. a planetary change-speed unit located in the second housing and comprising an axially shiftable sun gear located beyond the said other end of the shaft in axial alignment therewith, a set of planet gears distributed about and meshing with said sun gear, a carrier rotatably mounting said set of planet gears adjacent one end and having at said one end a set of internal teeth capable of meshing with said sun gear, and a rotatable ring gear surrounding and meshing with said planet gears; said sun gear in one axial position meshing with said planet gears and the second housing and being free of mesh with the internal teeth of said carrier, said sun gear in another axial position meshing with said planet gears and the internal teeth of said carrier and being free of mesh with the second housing; i. a block contained in the end of the carrier remote from said planet gears, the block having a hub projecting from the former end of said carrier and being splined to the end of the shaft remote from the sun gear of the speed reducer; j. a pin extending transversely of the shaft and connecting said carrier and block; k. a pair of rotatable casing members secured to opposite ends of said rotatable ring gear; l. a crown gear formed integral with said rotatable ring gear and being external to the casing members and internal to the second housing; m. a driving pinion meshing with the crown gear, rotating on an axis transverse to that of the shaft, and journalled in the second housing; n. a hydraulic motor coupled to the driving pinion and located adjacent and outside the second housing at the same plate side; and o. a flywheel directly associated with the coupling between the hydraulic motor and the driving pinion and located directly outside the second housing. 